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Joseph Blackfire (Prime Earth)
Attempted Self-Resurrection After three years, Blackfire had amassed enough power, with the help of an outside source, to begin corrupting the inhabitants of Arkham Asylum, speaking in their minds. Doctor Phosphorus in particular shouted the name "Blackfire" when the spirit of the deacon prompted him to do so, revealing the identity of his tormentor to doctors at the asylum. Over time, he created occult nexus points that allowed for him to create undead and summon demons to the mortal world, creating a new cult of not the people of Gotham, but of their worst villains who were still within the asylum, with Joker's Daughter as his apparent right-hand-woman, even using Scarecrow as a source for an "aetheric pylon", a pillar of blood flowing upwards due to dark magic. His work attracted the attention of the Spectre and its host, Detective Jim Corrigan. Eventually, despite the best efforts of Corrigan and Batwing, Blackfire managed to possess the virtually mindless body of Maxie Zeus. Having captured Corrigan, Blackfire intended to make him into another aetheric pylon. He raved incessantly, revealing to Corrigan that his reason was dwindling on account of having underestimated the strain of using this powerful magic.Jim senses from Blackfire's ravings that the spirit's reason is dwindling, having underestimated the strain of using this kind of magic. Despite the detective's warnings against using powerful magic without having total control over it, Blackfire's magic began to drag the Spectre out of Jim's body. Unfortunately, this amount of power is far too much, and the Spectre's green light built up around Jim's body, exploding outward and destroying Arkham Asylum itself, causing it to collapse inward. Despite Blackfire's attempts to use the Spectre to resurrect himself in full, God's vengeance erupted from Corrigan's body in full form, effortlessly removing Blackfire from Zeus' body, crushing his ghost in his fist, sealing the breach to Hell the deacon had created, and containing the demons he had unleashed, ending his threat to the world before returning to his host's body. Second Attempt at Rebirth Years after his apparent destruction at the hands of Jim Corrigan, Blackfire's spirit again re-surfaced. This time, his spirit can only be sustained on Earth through the faith of his worshipers, so he re-assembles his cult from Gotham's homeless population. He sends them to kidnap his descendant, an innocent boy named Joshua, because he believes that he can only be resurrected by possessing a blood relative. However, before the possession ritual can be completed, Batman tracks Joshua to where the cult is holding him in the sewers. He confronts the cultists and rescues the boy, causing the cult to become disillusioned with their belief in Blackfire. This results in his spirit dissipating back to Hell. | Powers = * * * | Abilities = * * * * * | Strength = | Weaknesses = * : Blackfire is far more likely to have someone else fight his battles than to do so himself. * : Blackfire becomes increasingly unstable the more magic he calls upon, as he does not have complete control over the spells he uses. | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = | Notes = * While it is presumed that Joseph Blackfire's spirit returned to Earth through supernatural means in Batman Eternal and Detective Comics, Batman has speculated that it could be an elaborate hoax perpetrated by his cultist or that Blackfire could actually be a metahuman. | Trivia = | Recommended = *''Batman Eternal'' | Links = }} Category:Clergy Category:Ghosts